The No. 19 UVA women’s lacrosse team (5-4) claimed a 9-6 victory at James Madison (6-4) on Wednesday evening at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Va.
After falling behind 2-0 early, Virginia went on a 4-1 run to take its first lead of the game, 4-3, with 4:39 remaining in the first half. UVA kept a one-goal advantage, 5-4, going into halftime. Seniors Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) and Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) each scored two goals in the second half to lead UVA to the 9-6 win.
“It was really important to find a way to win on the road tonight,” head coach Julie Myers said. “I think we had to grind it out a little bit. We had a couple of players with great games, but really we did it the hard way. We were able to come up with an important win against a talented JMU team.”
Dyson and Reese each finished with hat tricks for the second consecutive game. Junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) had a goal and added two assists, junior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) had one goal and one assist and freshman Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) scored a goal.
On the defensive end, senior Maggie Preas (Rockville, Md.) recorded a career-high six caused turnovers and seven ground balls to help force 24 turnovers on JMU. Junior Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) recorded seven saves in goal. The Cavaliers held JMU scoreless for 16 minute spans in the first and second half.
After a 2-0 start by James Madison, the Cavaliers cut it to one when Mueller scored on a free position. JMU added another goal to take a 3-1 lead with 17:39 remaining in the first. Neither team scored for 10 minutes, when a turnover at midfield caused by sophomore Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) led to Jackson finding a wide-open Reese as the Cavaliers cut it to 3-2.
Virginia tied the game after Reese found Dyson in front of the net following a free position opportunity. UVA took its first lead of the game, 4-3, at the 4:39 mark as Jackson scored on the assist from Behr. The Dukes tied the game 4-4, but Behr ripped a goal from the eight-meter to send UVA into the half with a 5-4 advantage.
The Cavaliers struck first out of the break as Jackson found Dyson for a goal to give UVA a 6-4 lead with 25:50 on the clock. The Dukes scored on a man-up free position goal to cut it back to one.
Virginia then scored three unanswered goals. Reese responded with her second goal of the day to make it 7-5. Dyson recorded her second-straight hat trick on the assist from Jackson as Virginia led, 8-5, with 15:51 remaining in the game. Reese completed her hat trick with a goal at the 13:18 mark as UVA took a 9-5 lead. JMU scored the final goal of the game as Virginia closed out the 9-6 win.
Virginia led James Madison in shots, 27-18, and ground balls, 24-18. The Dukes had the edge in draw controls, 10-7.
The Cavaliers will be back in action on Saturday, March 25 when they host No. 17 Duke at 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. The game will be streamed live on the ACC Network Extra.
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Chris Graham
